The frat house was buzzing with activity. Nick stood in the entryway a minute, just taking in the sights. There were a few high quality Second Skin costumes running around, but also a few home made outfits and the requisite togas.
Nick thought to himself that the frat should really do a theme costume some year. He walked into one of the main hallways slowly, trying to figure out what he should do until the party started.
He heard someone coming and decided maybe he should have a little fun. Nick pressed himself up against the wall and stood perfectly still. The frat boy was staring down at his phone, checking off some party prep items.
Nick waited until the young man was right in front of him and then hissed, “BooOoOo…!” He wailed, holding his arms up and everything for extra effect.
The guy dropped his phone. Thankfully it had a case and bounced harmlessly to the floor. “What the hell man!”
“Sorry…” Nick gave him a halfhearted shrug. “HalloweeEeEen…!” He teased in a raspy voice.
“Uh huh.” The frat boy picked up his phone, quickly heading back down the hallway.
Nick resumed his upright pose. He shouldn’t burn out his gimmick before the party even got started, but he didn’t want the word to get out before he had a chance to scare a few folks either.
He saw three people headed his way. He braced himself to leap out and… and…
…and he stayed perfectly still as they walked by.
That was weird. Nick held his arm up in front of his head, making sure his joints hadn’t gone stiff on him. He heard another group of people coming, and quickly slid his arm back down.
This time he wasn’t waiting to scare them. He was just trying to move! He did his best to reach out, to say something, anything! Instead his armor rigidly held itself in place and he couldn’t bring himself to utter a peep.
This went on for minutes. The frat boys were standing in the hallway talking about snack logistics and he was stuck standing there. No matter what he did, Nick just stood perfectly still. He even tried to throw his weight against the side of the suit, but the armor had gotten so snug that he couldn’t feel himself squirm inside it.
Nick kept trying to throw his shoulder into the chest plate or kick the toes off the boot. He should have been able to wedge himself up against part of the armor, but he couldn’t seem to shift his weight around with all this padding. He couldn’t even feel his skin brush up against his shirt or jeans.
Finally the group walked down the hall towards the common area. Nick almost fell over when he realized he could move again.
What the hell was going on!? He clambered down the hallway and made a bee line for the bathroom. Was his armor on too tight!? Something was seriously wrong here!
He shut the door and ran up to the mirror. Once again he was face to face with an animated piece of medieval armor. His glowing red eyes were a bit more unsettling now, and that eerie mist seemed to be rolling out of the helmet completely uninterrupted by the pattern of any breaths.
“Need… help…” He moaned. His voice came out as a faint mournful wail.
Maybe… maybe he was overheating? Nick quickly flipped the visor up to let some cool air in.
And saw nothing. No overheating beats of sweat. No panicked expressions. No clean cut college student.
Just the inside of a rusty helmet.
Holy shit holy shit holy shit. He was officially having a heat stroke…! Or- or something! He still couldn’t reach the straps on his back, but Nick new how to undo the gloves at least.
His helmet clamped shut as he looked down at his arms. He quickly undid the worn straps holding the left gauntlet into place. Something was off though. Underneath the decaying leather was supposed to be fresh padding and secure fasteners.
He gave the glove a firm tug, and pulled it off his left arm.
There was nothing underneath it. The metal plates on his arm just had a big hollow opening. One that he was waving around with considerable distress. He- He could still feel his hand though…! Surely it was still there! He did his best to wiggle his fingers, and watched as the digits on the removed gauntlet he was holding started moving in sync with his motions.
What was happening!? This was all impossible…! He tried to put the glove back on when he heard the doorknob to the bathroom turn.
Nick turned, looking down at a confused looking student. “Get… Help…!” He moaned at the classmate, waving his gauntlet in the air.
The pledge turned white as a sheet. He quickly slammed the door and ran off. Nick only had a moment to himself before a shuffle of footsteps came back to the bathroom.
“There… there was a monster in the bathroom, I swear!” The pledge stammered from behind the door.
The door to the bathroom opened, and three people looked down at him. Nick once again found his body frozen.
“Ugh.” One of the older frat members rolled his eyes. Nick was pretty sure his name was Brad?
“Guys, who put Sir Silver in the bathroom?” Brad turned to the others, “Come on, let’s put him back in the dining room.”
Gah! He was frozen again! He has been able to wave at the student when he opened the door. Why was he stuck now!?
The senior walked forward to pick him up. He felt himself lift into the air with surprising ease. This guy was stronger than he looked!
“Can you grab the legs?” Brad said with a grunt.
The legs…? Brad was carrying Nick with his arms around the suit’s torso, forcing Nick to look back over the senior’s shoulder. His confusion only lasted for just a moment. Brad turned towards the dining room and Nick got a clear view of a pair of hollow metal knight pants and boots standing motionless in front of the bathroom mirror.
He… he was being carried in pieces!
“Where does he go again?” The pledge that had gotten spooked earlier had helped pick up his right leg, while another frat member was carrying the left.
“Sir Silver’s usually by the door,” his carrying partner casually responded back.
In the midst of Nick’s panic, a weird thought cut through his mind: He hadn’t told anyone about that name.
They unceremoniously placed his legs on the ground, then slid his torso on top of it. Finally, Brad strapped his gauntlet back on. Nick felt the strange sensation of once again being whole pass over him.
Nick was back in one piece, but he still couldn’t move at all. He did his best to try and squirm in the suit, but he couldn’t feel his body anymore…!
Or rather, he could feel his body, and he had just watched three frat boys casually assembled the pieces of it. Mercifully, this room had a mirror on the far side. He could see his reflection in the distance staring back at him. His eyes weren’t red anymore, and he honestly looked like a high-end party decoration.
What was going on?! As much as Nick didn’t want to admit the reality of the situation, he had somehow become nothing more than a haunted pile of metal and leather. Further complicating things, any time there were more than a few people in a room his body would lock up tight. It didn’t make any sense! He seemed fine when talking with Dave one on one earlier-
A shiver would have gone down Nick’s spine if he still had one. The shopkeeper had tired to warn him. Sir Silver didn’t do well at big parties.
And here he had gotten himself placed right in the middle of one. He didn’t know how he had gotten stuck in, err, as a suit of armor, but he knew he was going to be here for a while. Sir Silver stuck to his statue routine around crowds.
The common area was always where the real partying happened. The dining room didn’t have any amplified sound, and was where people who were a bit more interested in mingling generally hung out. As parties wound down, this is usually where people would grab a seat and have a deep conversation with a good friend, or sit and play card games until early in the morning. In other words, Nick was screwed.
There were one or two brief windows where Nick thought he might be able to escape into the kitchen, but he eventually just resigned himself to waiting out the party. People had to go to class eventually, right?